Good to see you again! Step right in; I've
been expecting you, and your usual chair
is waiting. What's that? Oh, the dwarf
behind the bar? Fred is off this week; he's
attending the National Grue Convention being
held in Colossal Cave (they've reserved
the Dark Room, of course!). Seems they're
trying to get up a petition to ban electric
lights this year. Ah, but that's not what
you're here for, is it? Settle in, and we'll talk
about the trials and tribulations awaiting
you as a Sorcerer.

Now, the first thing is, don't panic! Just
because you see a nasty, drooling, deadly
hellhound coming right at you, is no need
to be worried. This time, it's only a dream
(lucky you!). When you wake up, however,
it will be a different matter: you're in the
dark. But, if you've already been through
Enchanter, you should know how to shed
a little light on the subject.

So, now that you can see what you're doing,
it's time to get up and look around the
place. You'll soon notice you're quite alone
here, and you won't be able to leave; at least,
not by the front door. But we'll come to that
in a little while. In the meantime, do some
snooping in the various rooms. You'll find
a few helpful spells, and a few other interesting
items, as well.

For instance, Belboz's room is worth looking
into. While you're doing that, listen to
the birdie, and make sure you check out
everything! When you leave, you should
have Belboz's journal. If you don't, you
missed something, and you'll never get out
of the Guild Hall.

Another place you don't want to miss is
the storeroom. Pay special attention to that
matchbook, and what's written on it. The
ochre vial is also important, so make sure
you hang on to that, too (the calendar? Well,
you can't eat the dates, hehehe, so you can
leave it if you like). And that receptacle in
the lobby, now what could that be? ("Letters,
I get letters...")

Once you've found everything there is to
find on this level, and the mail has arrived,
it's time to go look in the cellar. Aha! There's
a mysterious trunk here, with some buttons
on it. I'll bet ifyou pushed the right buttons,
the trunk would open up (and I'll bet if you
push the wrong ones, you'll never get it
open!). So, how do we get it to open?

Well, notice the colors of the buttons? Do
they remind you of anything? No? Better
look over all the goodies that came with the
game, very carefully! (You might find
yourself going in circles here). Once you
realize what the colors relate to, and which
colors are important today, you should have
the trunk open in no time.

And what's inside? Looks like a scroll to
me. One ofthose un-Gnusto-able scrolls, in
fact. Read it carefully before using it; you
only get one chance, and you don't want to
blow it (of course, you saved the game first
anyway, right?). There really is only one
logical choice, so take some time to think
about it.

Ok, so now you're out of the Guild Hall....
and standing in the forest, just like in the
dream. And sure enough, there's the
hellhound bearing down on you! Better get
a move on (no, don't climb the tree!), it's for
real this time! Once you get to the forest
edge, you'll be safe.

From here, you have quite a few places
to explore and things to do. There's no way
past the magic minefield, so don't even
bother trying; instead, try climbing down
the snake hole (the snakes are hiding today),
and making your way to the Chasm Edge. There seems to be something on the other
side, but the chasm is a bit too wide to jump.
However, there is a way across, and it
shouldn't take you too long to figure out how
(review your spells, if necessary).

Well, will you look at that? A tree full of
Zorkmids! Or.... is it? Surprise! It's just an
illusion, and all you end up with is, sigh, one
grubby little coin. But, it's better than
nothing, and you certainly will be needing
it! In fact, you'll be needing it twice, but we'll
talk about that a little later.

By the way, throughout the game, there
will be times when you start to feel sleepy.
Don't worry about that; most anyplace is
safe enough for you to stretch out and nap
awhile. However, I would not suggest using
either the riverbank or the drawbridge
for a bed!

Speaking of the riverbank, let's trot on
over there now. Just looking at it, you'll probably
get the idea that swimming isn't the
best thing to do here. You'd be right. Time
to check your list of spells, and see which
one might do some good. Just remember to
move fast (hopefully, you'll go in the right
direction); nothing lasts forever!

The fort is another interesting place to
visit. There are two items in this area that
you'll be needing later, so take a good look
around. The cannon, of course, is an obvious
hiding place. However, getting to the
scrolls in the barrel seems impossible (hope
you have some bandaids handy!). What can
be done? Perhaps a look at your handy Infotater
might help. Especially when you
think about what you found in the vicinity
of the river!

The other item is a little less obvious. But,
since there aren't many rooms or other objects
in the fort, you shouldn't have too
much trouble finding what you need. Just
be careful not to overlook (or underlook!)
anything.

Now it's time to go underground. Of
course, you've been making a map as you
go along (haven't you?), and you've probably
spent some time down below already. If you
haven't, just poke around down there till
you come to the Toll Gate. Here you give up
your Zorkmid to get by, and, continuing further
on after that, you'll come to the infamous
Glass Maze.

Actually, the maze is not all that hard,
although trying to get through it could drive
you batty. When you make it out the exit to
the Hollow, you'll find a scroll there.
However, NOW you have a problem. Two,
in fact. For one thing, you can't take the
scroll back with you through the maze. For
another, the maze will change as soon as
you pick up the scroll (oops!).

Now what? Well, first, the answer to the
scroll problem is really pretty simple. The solution is right there in the Hollow, practically
staring you in the face. Think about
it. The maze is another matter. There are,
in fact, two ways out. One is quick and dirty,
the other long and hard. The hard one
is finding your way out through the new
maze, which can be done, but it will take
awhile (if you do this, you'll have to learn
a certain spell several times before you enter
the maze).

The other way requires using one of the
spells you found in the Guild Hall. If you've
played around with that one at all, you know
that it will always take you back to the place
where you cast it, so if you're going to use
it here, best cast the spell before entering
the maze.

Ok, so now you're out of the Maze, and
you have the scroll. But, you need a
Zorkmid, so you can enter the Amusement
Park (don't ask me what an Amusement
Park is doing down here!). The tree is gone,
so you can't go there for one. However,
don't despair! There is a solution.... it just
requires a larcenous turn of mind, and quick
fingers.

Once you have the coin, it's time to visit
that strange Amusement Park. Give your
Zorkmid to the gnome and enter. You'll find
some rides here, as well as a Haunted
House. What you really want, though, is that
arcade at the far end. If you could just hit
one of those cute little bunnies, I'll bet you
could win a prize. You can't do that on your
own, but you should have something with
you that will help.

When you get your prize, take a look in
the Carving Room (no, it's no? the place to
cut up turkeys!). One carving in particular
stands out. Look over your spells; you will
need TWO of them here. When you've used
the right ones properly, you will be able
to progress into the Sooty Room.

Now, you are about to embark on the
strangest part of this adventure. The Sooty
Room leads to the Coal Bin Room, and here
you will find breathing to be rather difficult.
You'll need a potion here; I sure hope you
did the right thing with the matchbook!

But the real surprise is when you meet....
yourself! Your Older Self, in fact, sliding into
the room from a chute above. Listen
carefully to what your twin tells you, you'll
need that information. Also, remember that
you're dealing with yourself here, so act accordingly
(remember the Golden Rule?).

After your twin dives down the lower
chute, you can proceed on to the Dial Room.
Opening the door in here should be no problem,
and you will soon find yourself in the Shaft Bottom. The rope is important, so take
that before you climb up to the mine.

The mine is a small (really small) maze of
sorts; what would an Infocom be without
one? It shouldn't take you long tOJllap it out
(it better not; your potion won't last
forever!). Along the way, you'll find a
timber; take it with you, because you'll need
it soon.

Eventually, you'll come to the chute top.
This is the one your Older Self came down
a little while ago. However, before you can
slide down yourself, you must find the way
to the Slanted Room. You have the rope and
the timber, which is all you need. All you
have to do is figure out how to use them, so
experiment a little there (it's a good idea to
save the game, since it's likely you won't get
the solution the first time).

In the Slanted Room, you'll find a scroll
with a rather odd spell. It's meant to be used
right there. Read room descriptions
carefully before and after you cast the spell.
You shouldn't leave empty-handed.

When you do come down the chute, you'll
be back in the Coal Bin Room, and here you
will see your Younger Self (I said this was
the strangest part of the game!). This is a
critical moment. If you don't do exactly the
right thing here, you will cease to exist.
Think back to what happened when you
first entered this room, and do likewise.

Now it's time to go down the lower chute,
before you choke. Ah, air again! You've
made your way to a lagoon. In fact, you're
probably pretty dirty from all that messing
around in the mine, so why not take a swim
and wash up? You might even find
something of interest!

Ok, you're just about ready to face Jeearr.
He's close by, as a matter of fact. You just
have to get past the nasty-looking vines
(should be easy), and into the cave. Ummm,
well, there's those grues, too. You'll have to
have a way of dealing with them. And in this
case, light won't work (uh oh!).

Once you pass the grues, you will come
to three doors. Two of them lead to very
unpleasant consequences; the third will
bring you to what you've been looking for:
your showdown with the demon. So, before
you open that door, you had best be
prepared. You will need to protect yourself
first; do that before you open the door.
When you see what's on the other side,
you'll know what other spell you need. Don't waste time, do what you must, and
quickly! Congratulations, Sorcerer, you are
now the leader of the Circle!

Whew! That's enough of magic for now.
Next time, we'll come back to more mundane
matters (so to speak!), when we take
a look at solving a murder in Deadline. Until
then, happy adventuring!

For those of you who need some extra
help, there are 3 ways to get in touch with
me: